How to Know What Management Style Tactics to Use, and When
We often read and learn about different management styles - Authoritative, Consultative, Laissez-faire etc. and these are linked to volume/type of work, organisation culture, goals, and the personalities of those being managed.
What about other constraints? What tactics can a manager use if they are short of time, or if quality is important, or motivation, or a combination of two or if all three are essential? I have found this venn diagram designed by Chris Croft Training very useful when deciding how best to approach a task and when and how best to involve my team. Thought it was worth a share.
If you’re pushed for time, quality isn’t important and there isn’t anything in the task to motivate an individual or the team then complete as quickly as possible and get rid of it!
If however you don’t have much time, but quality matters, your only real option might be to tell someone how to do it and let them get on with it. There isn’t much to motivate them, but every now and then that’s just the way things are.
If you’re short of time, quality isn’t too important but it’s the sort of task that will motivate someone then pass the task to them and empower them to do it (empowering in this instance means you don’t check on them, you just trust them to get the job done).
If quality is the main driver, and you have the luxury of time, you may want to plan for it and do it yourself - especially if there is no development opportunity or motivation for anyone else.
If quality is important, there aren’t any time constraints and there is a development opportunity you can choose to share the task or consult with others. (The difference between these is that with consult you make the decision after consulting others, but with share it’s a joint decision.)
If there is a task to complete without deadlines, and quality isn’t an issue, then you can sell the task to someone else or the team. They can determine how to do it and how well.
In all circumstances you can look to delegate the task, but this isn’t just a tactic to get the job off your list and onto someone else’s! It needs doing properly. If done well it will meet all the constraints and is a win-win for everyone.
A good manager shouldn’t have a long list of things to do - they will have a short list of important tasks (including management of the team) that they can plan for and execute effectively. Doing it all yourself is the worst – you maybe get a decent job, but if you’re trying to do everything then probably not, it’ll take lots of your time, and won’t impress or motivate your team much either.
